Thursday, November 19, 2015

The Morality of "The Picture of Dorian Gray"

Today in class we discussed some very interesting central themes in The Picture of Dorian Gray buy Oscar Wilde. Among them was the topic of morality, the question of whether or not the book was moral or immoral in itself, and whether or not the book had a message to the reader about morality. As Oscar Wilde himself said, a book is neither moral nor immoral. I'm not sure that is true. I wouldn't call The Picture of Dorian Gray an immoral book, as it does not condone the actions of Dorian or give him a happy ending.


As Riley and I discussed in our presentation today, the book reads somewhat like a fairy tale in that it contains metaphors and magic. The painting is a metaphor for and a physical manifestation of Dorian's soul. It transforms based on Dorian's deeds and started doing so because of a wish that Dorian made early in the book. The story shows that our deeds cumulatively represent who we are--we are what we do. It also sends the message that outward appearance does not equal inward reality, and that doing the right thing for the wrong reason is akin to doing the wrong thing anyway. I think that the book sends a strong moral message that one's actions not only impact others, but leave permanent marks on one's soul.


I found it interesting that the story's premise was so similar to that of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jekyll has Hyde, a second self, to absorb all the evil that Jekyll would otherwise commit. The difference is that Dorian is committing the evil, and the painting is absorbing the effects. The idea of detaching oneself from the evil that one has committed is an interesting and prevalent theme in literature. The guilt of the crimes, while it does not show on his face, torments Dorian until he snaps. I think that the story is saying that guilt can poison a person and that the best way out of that is to simply not commit heinous acts.

1 comment:

  1. That's a good parallel, Brittany, and both books deal with the divided self. I'm glad you brought up the comparison.

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